The Mayor of Bratislava, Matúš Vallo, and representatives of 10 companies operating in the city have jointly launched the first year of the Mayor’s Climate Challenge, a voluntary cooperation programme to achieve climate goals. The programme aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings and support the city’s adaptation to climate change, build strong and lasting partnerships between the city and businesses, recognise responsible companies that are actively engaged in building a sustainable city, and demonstrate practical climate solutions.
In April 2024, the capital presented its first climate plan for a greener and healthier Bratislava. The plan shows the way, including concrete steps and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and strengthen the protection of Bratislava’s residents from the negative impacts of climate change. The measures concern the city and municipal enterprises, which together can influence about 11% of the city’s total emissions. Achieving the ambitious goal of the plan also requires the contribution of residents and businesses. Residents and the so-called tertiary sector, i.e. businesses and public institutions outside the city, each account for about a third of emissions.
“Last summer, Bratislava experienced several heat waves and two floods, which caused significant damage to the city’s property and citizens. It clearly showed us that the climate crisis is already having a big impact on people’s lives, the functioning of cities, the state and private companies,” said Matúš Vallo, Mayor of Bratislava. “Bratislava is aware of its responsibility to act. In addition to the concrete measures we are implementing as a city, the Climate Plan also focuses on developing cooperation with citizens and businesses on solutions that will help prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis and improve the quality of life in our city. I am delighted that in the first year 10 key partners have already joined the new collaborative programme and expressed their confidence in our efforts in this area”.
The Mayor’s Climate Challenge is a programme of voluntary collaboration between the City and businesses operating in the City to meet climate change targets. The main aim of the programme is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings in the city. Emissions from buildings account for up to 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, so it is vital to provide incentives, support and regulatory tools to ensure that buildings are renovated or their use and operation improved.
In the 2025 pilot year, the programme was open to retailers, particularly food retailers, and owners of large office and retail spaces. Each participating company chose two commitments from a pre-defined set for the first year. At least one had to be related to energy, either reducing energy consumption or increasing the production of clean, renewable energy. For the second target, companies could choose from issues related to overall environmental sustainability, such as increasing the proportion of green spaces in car parks, water retention and conservation, reducing emissions from goods delivery or employee commuting, and so on. The measures will be implemented in at least one of their sites in the city.
“Thanks to all the companies participating in the pilot year of the programme, more than 3 GWh of energy will be saved annually,” said Jakub Mrva, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Climate Change. Companies have submitted plans to install photovoltaic panels with a total capacity of more than 3,100 kWp, which represents about 15% of the total target set in the Climate Plan for the tertiary sector by 2030.
Authors: Lubica Šimkovicova, Andrea Borska
Picture credits: Andrea Borska